Financing Highways

Arizona, the Three "T" State---Transportation, Travel and Tourists

By J. W. STRODE ARIZONA was once known as the Three "C" State. The c's stood for copper, cotton and cattle. The copper end of this triumvirate of production may now be spelled in capitals, for copper mining is on the increase. But in the face of increased population cotton and cattle raising are falling off. Vast acre-ages are now being cut up to make room for new settlers, while dairying and the growing of fruits and vegetables are taking their places with superb cotton production to create diversified farming.

While these changes have been taking place a new crop has sprung into being the great American tourist crop, with a harvest of dollars running into millions yearly; with the result that Arizona, instead of being the Three "C" State may now appropriately be termed the Three "T" State, meaning tourists, travel and transportation. Let us trace then, how each of these T's affect the life, development and prosperity of the capital city.

First, the Tourist. Thousands of visitors are brought to Phoenix every year over Arizona Highways. These visitors may bedivided roughly into two classes: the sight-seers and the home-seekers.

Tourists stay for twenty-four hours at least when they reach Phoenix. During this time they must eat and sleep. Gas tanks are replenished and car repairs made, all of which contributes to the revenues of the city's business houses, helps to provide employment. Hundreds of tourists find comfortable temporary homes in one of the scores of highly attractive and sometimes luxurious tourist courts and auto camps which surround the city. Others prefer the more substantial comforts of a hotel. But in any event they must sleep and eat. Fully one-fourth of the Phoenix cafe and cafeteria patronage is made up of sightseeing automobile tourists. Sometimes they stay over for a day, sometimes for a week or more, and during all this time, long or short, they are contributing to the coffers of Phoenix business.

Nor is this trade confined to meals and accommodations. Clothing gives out in travel as much as it does at home, the traveler discovers. Wardrobes must be replenished, shoes and stockings must be purchased. Then there is the fam ily car. It must of necessity be kept well oiled and in good repair to keep it going. Garages and service stations share largely in the general benefits.

The home seeker is even more of a spender than a sightseer. He is not so anxious to get along. He wants to see the city and its environs. The Capitol grounds, Central Avenue with its magnificent homes, Ingleside Inn and Millionaire Row, perched on the side of Mount Camelback; the State Normal School at Tempe and the Mormon Temple at Mesa attract his attention, and he spends many pleasant days in visiting these and other near-by points of interest. By this time he is ready to make a comprehensive study of the city and its environments from a home-making standpoint. If employment offers in his line he may elect to become a temporary resident; and if things break right for him he invests in a little home, or an orange grove, perhaps, and he decided to share his fortunes with the Gold Spot of America.

TRAVEL AS AN ASSET.

And now, for a moment, to consider the benefits of general highway travel to Phoenix. All roads lead to Phoenix in Arizona. Consider the Central Arizona Highway. The Central Arizona Highway is one of the chief spokes of the wheel of which Phoenix is the hub. These roads are used by residents of Arizona fully as much as by tourists. Every mile of travel over them contributes to the upbuilding of Arizona and its capital city. A four cent tax is collected on every gallon of gasoline consumed by the motorist, and these collections, mounting to millions a year, are devoted to the construction and maintenance of Arizona highways. Building roads provides employment for many families who reside in Phoenix. Here is located the Arizona State Highway Department, with its physical machinery for grading the roads and its office machinery for designing roads and bridges and for collecting license fees, gasoline taxes and other revenues which go to build up the state highway fund.

Phoenix has been benefited in an ever larger way by the Central Arizona Highway Way in bringing closer communication with some of the state's larger and more progressive communities. The great Globe-Miami copper district, premier copper producing camp of the country, for example, has been brought to within less than one hundred miles of the metropolis. The flourishing agricultural towns of Tempe and Mesa have become in effect suburbs of the city, without losing any of their individuality. The hustling mining camps of Superior, Ray and Hayden have been given a closer connection with the Salt River Valley. Even the more distant towns of Safford, Morenci and Clifton have become more neighborly by reason of their closer contact with the big city.Closer highway contacts mean more frequent visits to the city by out-of towners. It means increased department store and furniture sales. It means too, greater facilities for handling of all sorts of merchandise, thereby increasing the volume of mail order business by Phoenix firms.

MOTOR TRANSPORTATION

Coming now to Transportation, which in this instance means motor transit: The advantages of the Central route to Phoenix can be traced through an entirely separate channel of agricultural development. Phoenix prides itself on being the Gold Spot of the nation, which is another way of saying that it is very prosperous. Phoenix owes its prosperity to being the commercial center of one of the richest agricultural areas in America, the Salt River Valley. But the Salt River Valley with all of its wonder crops would amount to nothing were it not for the markets. Some of its markets, cotton, for example, are far removed and this requires rail transportation. Some of its markets, fresh fruits and vegetables, for instance, are close at hand. These close markets are had by virtue of the Central Arizona Highway. Globe and Miama and a halfdozen other important mining camps served in whole or in part by this highway are dependent on the Salt River Valley for their daily sustenance, and they are dependent upon transportation over the Central Arizona Highway to get that sustenance to them.

Let the doubters of this statementtake a position some night somewhere on that highway and check the number of huge trucks laden with valley perishables, fleeting their way to the mining camps of the higher levels and he will no longer doubt. Produce going out, means money coming in for the farmer, and the produce trade along the Central Arizona Highway is one of the things which is keeping the Salt River Valley going at high speed along the highway of prosperity.Still another avenue of benefit is seen in the vast volume of motor freight distribution along the Central Route. Phoenix is a natural jobbing center. It has been made so largely by its highway connections. Mining supply houses, as well as general jobbing concerns, have been benefited tremendously through the opening up of the Central route.

Page Twenty-two ARIZONA HIGHWAYS JANUARY, 1930

To take a position some night somewhere on that highway and check the number of huge trucks laden with valley perishables, fleeting their way to the mining camps of the higher levels and he will no longer doubt. Produce going out, means money coming in for the farmer, and the produce trade along the Central Arizona Highway is one of the things which is keeping the Salt River Valley going at high speed along the highway of prosperity.

To realize fully what the route means, one must go back a few years when the only shipping connection between Phoenix and Globe was by rail, over a round about route, half way across the state and back again almost as far. Shipment of perishables over this route was unsatisfactory in the extreme. If produce was shipped without ice, it landed at destination wilted, stale and unfit for consumption. If iced, the extra expense placed it in the class of luxuries, and in any event, the freight charges were so high as to place living out of sight.

Under these conditions the growing camps of Globe and Miami were placed under a tremendous handicap. Mining development could not go forward as it should, building operations were slowed down and living conditions became well nigh unbearable. Labor demanded higher wages, but even after the companies had raised the pay it was not enough to meet the situation. Miners and their families would flock into camp only to flock out again as soon as they got a pay check. The labor turnover was tremen dous, seriously affecting the volume of production and making for general unrest.

It was at this period of the camp's development that a few daring souls conceived the idea of short-cutting the entire transportation problem through the construction of a mountain highway, taking the route of a mountain trail leading from Superior to Miami.

"Impossible," cried the conservatives, "you couldn't build a highway through these mountains in a hundred years."

The road was built. It stands today as a splendid example of mountain highway engineering and a notable demonstration of the economic value of highways.

The Superior-Miami road, as it is called, is now a part of the Central Arizona Highway, which in turn is a part of a great transcontinental line of highway travel, becoming more popular every year as an all-year route.

AUTOMOBILE DEATHS TO REACH NEW MARK

Fatality Toll Will be 30,000 for 1929, Say National Safety Council Statisticians CHICAGO-Motor vehicle accidents will claim 30,000 lives in the United States this year, according to conservative estimates of National Safety Council cil statisticians who have completed tabulations of the first ten months' records. This figure will show an increase of more than 7 per cent over the 1928 death toll, it is estimated. The round-number figure predicted for 1928 was 27,500 casualties.

Figure Mounts Rapidly Some idea of the increase in automobile accidents may be gained by comparsons with records of former years. All fatalities from this type of accident in 1918 numbered but 10,680. Five years later, in 1923, the figure had mounted to 18,416, and four years later, in 1927, the total was 25,851.

That neither the increase in the country's population nor the increased number of vehicles in use wholly accounts for this growing menace is conclusively proved. For each 100,000 persons in the United States in 1924, 15.7 were killed in such accidents, but in 1928 the number for each 100,000 population had grown to around 21 casualties. For every 100,000 cars registered in 1927 there were 100 deaths in automobile accidents and this ratio increased by 1928 to about 102 deaths for each 100,000 cars registered.

Not in Proportion The comparisons show, in other words, that automotive fatalities are increasing out of proportion both to our growth in population and our increased automobile registration.

Other countries than the United States are worrying over the steadily increasing motor vehicle accident toll, according to advices reaching the Automobile Club of Southern California. In a recent motoring magazine published in Canada the following comment appeared: "It is amazing to learn how many families have expense, suffering and loss of time due to motor car accidents that forethought would prevent.

"Drivers who love life and dislike lawsuits should have good brakes and good tires, start early, know where they are going, be patient, do pleasure riding before late Sunday afternoon, be careful downtown on Saturday afternoon, and slow up when near pedestrians."

NOTICE TO CONTRACTORS

Sealed bids for the surfacing of the approaches to the Agua Fria Bridge will be received until 2:00 P.M. January 13th, 1930, and then publicly opened and read at the office of the Arizona State Highway Commission, Phoenix, Arizona. No bids will be received after the time specified.

All bids must be marked upon the outside of the envelope "State Highway Contract, Phoenix-Yuma Highway, F. A.P. 46, Sch. 3," and MUST CLEARLY SHOW THE SAME OF THE BIDDER ON THE OUTSIDE OF THE ENVELOPE.

The work consists of gravel surfacing, about 0.8 miles of roadway and is to be completed on or before February 28th, 1930.

APPROXIMATE QUALITIES

2600 Cy Roadway Surfacing 2700 Cy mi. Roadway Surfacing haul.

All bids shall be accompanied by an unendorsed, certified or cashier's check only, of not less than five (5%) per cent of the gross amount of the bid, payable to the State Treasurer of Arizona.

The right is reserved, as the interest of the State Highway Commission may require, to reject any and all bids, to waive any informalities in bids received, and to accept or reject any items of any bid unless such bid is qualified by specific limitations.

Copies of the plans and specifications may be seen at the office of the State Engineer, Phoenix, Arizona, or may be obtained fro the State Engineer upon the payment of Five ($5.00) Dollars, which will be returned to the contractor should the plans and specifications be returned within ten (10) days after opening of bids.

The bidder will be required to comply with the provisions of the Specifications and Contract in bidding and the award and execution of the Contract.

W. W. LANE, State Engineer.

Phoenix, Arizona, January 3, 1930.